

#1 JOE KONSWINSKI Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Bucks
#1 JOE KONSWINSKI Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Bucks # 1 is finally here. We started this countdown on November 24, 2014 Joe Konswinski of Michigan shot the biggest buck on Santa Rosa Island in our 33 year tenure out there. This buck of Joe's is a 210 buck as a typical 4x4, but when you add in all extra points, he had over 45" of nontypical points. What a buck! Joe gets the distinction of shooting the biggest buck. At the same time a misguided Dodger fan, Will Woolle


#2 STAN ATWOOD Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Bucks
#2 STAN ATWOOD Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Bucks This is such a quintessential Santa Rosa Island buck and photo! This monster was shot by Stan Atwood near dusk out at the end of Bee Canyon. Pocket Field is in the foreground and San Miguel Island in the background. If I keep staring at this photo, I might start crying. I can just relive that return trip over the Burma Road in the dark, knowing that a monster buck is in pieces in the back of the truck. Before long, th


#3 PAUL PRUDLER Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Bucks
#3 PAUL PRUDLER Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Bucks Does this buck actually look real? You dissect this buck, and there's something about that makes it appear almost mystical. When Chad brought this buck in from this hunt, we all just marveled at it's massiveness. Paul's buck has such huge bases and the mass all the way out to the tips is truly phenomenal. This buck doesn't have the huge webbing mass like yesterday's entry, but his thickness all the way out is unheard of. If thi


#4 JEFF MEYERL Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Bucks
#4 JEFF MEYERL Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Bucks This monster was the Island record from this date in 1999 until 2006. This buck has so much mass that it looks unnatural. Jeff can not even come close to wrapping his hands around the antlers above the eyeguards. I think this buck had over 50" in mass measurements. This buck of Jeff's is also the top scoring buck that is hard horned. The three remaining bucks are all in the velvet. This fact makes Tim Kelley the guide


#5 COLBY BETTIS Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Bucks
#5 COLBY BETTIS Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Bucks In many ways, this may be the most impressive mule deer ever shot on Santa Rosa Island. It has no eyeguards to speak of, and only two nontypical points (one only three inches long)-- yet it scored a whopping 237. As a typical this buck is a high 220's buck. His frame is just huge, with G2-4's extra long. One more thing-- this was Colby's first mule deer ever! Good luck improving on this one Mr. Bettis! If you notice th


#6 JIM TONKIN Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Bucks
#6 JIM TONKIN Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Bucks This was Jim's second big buck he shot on Santa Rosa Island. He was a crack shot with his scoped handgun. Andrew guided him on this hunt, but on his other trip I guided him and as we were stalking him, I asked him how close did we need to get for him to shoot the buck with his sidearm. He nonchalantly said, "We can stop here, I'm good". I was a little shocked since we were a good 300 yards out. True to his word, he sat d


#10 KEARNEY MARTINS Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Bucks
#10 KEARNEY MARTINS Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Bucks Kearney deserved a chance to shoot a buck of this caliber. If you remember, he also shot #22, which was the largest buck taken in 2009. Well, this buck of his was the largest of 2008. Think we should be going to Vegas to bet on the Final 4 this weekend with his kind of luck and ability.This is one of those photos that's quite easy to place on the Island. Chad also guided Kearney on that buck too. On the let backgro


#11 RICK AREND Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Bucks
#11 RICK AREND Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Bucks Just another great, big, and burly buck from 2006. Rick came out to Santa Rosa Island with his son Chris. They were a pleasure to guide and spend time with. To me this was a fateful hunt. I felt I was being given guidance from somwhere to hunt this area of the Island on this particular day. We were hunting up on the Burma road, and suddenly I got a sense I needed to head to Lepe and search it out thoroughly. As fate wou


#12 ANDY WOOD Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Hunts
#12 ANDY WOOD Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Hunts This picture is so priceless Only on Santa Rosa Island. A 34" double drop time buck next to the sand dunes of the Pacific Ocean. Wow! Andy is one of my closest friends, and guided he and his wife many times on Santa Rosa Island. This is his largest buck with us. I'm just waiting to see if he can top this buck somewhere else in the western US. Knowing Andy, I'm not betting against him. Fellow guide Travis Christensen gets


#13 MIKE DAVIS Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Bucks
#13 MIKE DAVIS Top 100 Santa Rosa Island Mule Deer Bucks Mike shot this buck a mere day later than Trent Kelley shot #14. That's pretty crazy-- two 224+ bucks within a span of 24 hours. 2010 was a wild year, indeed. This must have been Mark Michealis' most successful guiding experience. Not only did he guide on this buck, but also Matt Peters (#64). As they say, even a blind pig finds an acorn once in awhile! Seriously, Mark is a great guide. In fact, he still guides for us